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High Focus Records is delighted to announce the return of Verbz & Mr Slipz on ‘THE WAY FWD’, the anticipated full-length follow up to their 2019 LP ‘Radio Waves’.

An album fuelled by evolution, ‘THE WAY FWD’ pays respect to the signature sonics that are synonymous with the duo; the dust laden, sample driven boom bap energies are present throughout, with a greater focus on arrangement, form and musicality this time around.

Sourcing from the many adventures both Verbz & Slipz have been on in the five years separating the 2 x LPs; experiments across genres and BPMs informing the direction of travel before they completed the circle, ‘THE WAY FWD’ combines new spirit with a dizzying timelessness; Slipz’ sophisticated brushstrokes informing Verbz’ penmanship across 12-tracks of true introspection.

With features from Cappo, Cam Thomas and additional vocals from India Shan, ‘THE WAY FWD’ has all the makings of a classic release, especially if it ends up being Verbz & Mr Slipz’ last collaborative contribution to the genre…

The Rachel's band began when Jason Noble joined forces with Christian Frederickson. Within months of their meeting on a crowded trolley, they had formed a small ensemble to perform original compositions. In the next three years, madness ensued. Christian finished his degree at the Peabody Conserva-tory of Music, traveled to Switzerland to study, returned home, then wound up in NYC to attend the Julliard School. Jason didn't finish his degree, moved back to Louisville, began employment as an artist by day, dishwasher by night, and be-gan working with friends in a band that would become Rodan. This insane, all over the world life-style, led to a barrage of telephone, demo tape, notepaper, sheet music & mail communication. This, combined with sporadic two-week or two-day person-to-person collaborations in whatever city was central enough, became the bizarre process of the music. During this long gestation, Rachel Grimes became involved, first assisting Jason in his brute comprehension of written music, then joining as a pianist & confidant. Soon she was fully entrenched, providing the strange coincidence of possessing the name "Rachel," and an incredible backbone to the project. Several recordings had been finished, some in the studio, hundreds of 8-track cassettes, a few jambox cuts, but the time for a concentrated attempt at an LP seemed far away. Finally, Rachel, Christian, & Jason began assembling musicians who they respected; John, Mark and Barry from the Chicago supergroup The Coctails, Kevin Coul-tas from Rodan, Bob Weston, and several other string players from various walks of life. The result was a group of semi-vagrants, some reading from sheet music, some rambunctious noisemakers, working from an equally improvisational and tight-assed way. The real character comes from the musicians involved, participating in what can only be called a "labor of love." Handwriting, the band's debut album, was originally released by Quarterstick Records in 1995. Jacket custom screen-printed by Jeff Mueller at Dexterity Press.

Jonathan Sings! is the fourth album by American rock band Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, and was released in 1983. Richman emerges as an incurable romantic on Jonathan Sings!, an infectiously sunny effort which stands among his finest LPs. Recorded after a long layoff with a new Modern Lovers lineup, Richman sounds thoroughly recharge, even extolling the simple virtues of "This Kind of Music"; among his other enthusiasms are kids; "Not Yet Three" and travel; "Give Paris One More Chance", but his primary focus here is romance, "You're the One for Me," "That Summer Feeling" and "Someone to Hold Me" are positively joyous. NME ranked it at number 19 in their "Albums of the Year" list for 1984. Jonathan Sings! is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on purple coloured vinyl.

Fred Armisen, long known as one of the most curious actor/comedian/musician/ producer/ author/all-round good guys in the business, likes unusual ways of entertaining people. Like this one: 100 Sound Effects is an album that can be used as a library, an industrial tool for your own entertainment projects, or simply for brain-stimulating deep listening. From basic sounds to more abstract scenarios, 100 Sound Effects is an album like no other!

Max Richter presents SLEEP: Tranquility Base, a thirty-minute EP of new SLEEP music alongside remixes from electronic musician Kelly Lee Owens and German sound artist Alva Noto. Richter returns to his celebrated eight-hour magnum opus SLEEP with this new EP which offers a glimpse into the original material from an electronic perspective. “Tranquility Base” is the site on the Moon where, in July 1969, humans landed and walked on a celestial body other than Earth for the first time. With this in mind, the EP functions as a vessel that disconnects and travels through the body of work, allowing art to provide something which resembles peace within ourselves.

François and Sylvain Rabbath have turned six years of touring into a joint album that patiently and intensely distills a variety of musical flavors gathered from around the world.

Since the early 1960s, François Rabbath's double bass has resonated through enough landmark recordings to fill several shelves in a record collection. As an arranger, composer, and musician, his imprint on music goes far beyond his collaborations with Barbara, Paco Ibáñez, Charles Aznavour, or Édith Piaf. Aspiring double bassists owe him a groundbreaking method for learning the instrument. Born into a lush musical universe that quickly became his own, his son Sylvain first accompanied him on his travels before settling at the piano and sharing stages around the world at his side.

Those years of accumulating visas in their passports were put to good use by father and son. The continents, countries, and cities they passed through became a rich source of inspiration for composing Amall, the album by the Rabbath Electric Orchestra.

Long hours spent in the air or on the road, watching passing landscapes that never stayed the same, were transformed into compositions imbued with the atmospheres of the places they crossed or visited. Inspiration sometimes struck with force, like a green oasis appearing in a desert of stone—unexpectedly, as glowing red rocks suddenly dominated an otherwise open landscape with an endless horizon, while the mind wandered into a state between meditation and introspection.
Born from these travels, the pieces took on their final colors once brought into the studio, refined, and finally arranged to welcome the guitars of Keziah Jones and Matthieu Chedid, the piano of Laurent de Wilde, the bass of Victor Wooten, the saxophone of Raphaël Imbert, and the percussion of Minino Garay. Enhanced by the scale of the jazz-soul orchestrations, by the richness of arrangements bursting from strings, brass, rhythms, or keyboards, the epic breath of vast plains became ingrained. The urban tension of funk, echoing their movements, found its place—alongside more electric expressions or the ambience of a darkened room.
Melancholic and melodious, expressive and edgy, the bowed double bass—played in the high register where few dare to go—emerged as the musical guide. One that draws a path between Seville and Minneapolis, connects François Rabbath's native Syria to France, and bridges South America to Europe. It sets the tone to follow—the emotion that will carry the piece, and if not filled with light, will carry it there nonetheless.
Musical visions packed in luggage, transported in cargo holds, or imprinted in their minds just long enough to cover the distances to the next stop—father and son deepened their bond, beyond family and art. And their hands have never held each other more tightly.

François et Sylvain Rabbath ont fait fructifier six ans de tournées pour un album commun distillant patiemment et intensément la variété de parfums musicaux récoltés autour du monde.
Depuis le début des 60’s, la contrebasse de François Rabbath résonne dans assez de références pour combler plusieurs étagères d’une collection de disques. Arrangeur, compositeur, musicien, l'empreinte laissée dans la musique va bien au-delà de ses collaborations avec Barbara, Paco Ibanez, Charles Aznavour, ou Edith Piaf. C’est à lui que les
apprentis contrebassistes doivent une méthode novatrice pour apprendre l’instrument.

Né dans un univers musical luxuriant qui est vite devenu aussi le sien, c’est d’abord dans ses voyages que son fils Sylvain l’a accompagné, avant de s’installer au piano, et parcourir les scènes du monde à ses côtés. Ces années où les visas se sont entassés sur leurs passeports, père et fils les ont mises à profit. Continents, pays, et villes qui se sont succédés sont devenues un gisement pour composer Amall, l’album du Rabbath Electric Orchestra.

Les longs moments passés dans les airs ou sur la route à contempler un paysage qui défile sans pour autant rester le même, se sont convertis en compositions habitées par les ambiances de ces endroits traversés ou visités. Là où l’inspiration s’est imposée parfois brutalement, sous
la forme d’un oasis de verdure surgissant au milieu d’un désert de pierres. Au hasard d’imposantes roches rougeoyantes s’invitant dans un paysage jusqu’alors dégagé sur un horizon sans fin, quand l’esprit se laisse aller à un mélange de méditation et d'introspection.

Nés de ces pérégrinations, les titres ont pris leurs couleurs définitives une fois ramenés en studio, peaufinés puis, enfin, pensés pour y inviter les guitares de Keziah Jones et de Matthieu Chedid, le piano de Laurent de Wilde, la basse de Victor Wooten, le saxophone de Raphaël Imbert, les percussions de Minino Garay. Sublimé par la dimension des orchestrations jazz-soul, par la richesse des arrangements jaillissant des cordes, des cuivres, des rythmiques ou des claviers, le souffle épique des plaines immenses s’est imprimé.
La nervosité citadine du funk rythmant les déplacements a trouvé sa place, non loin d’une expression plus électrique ou d’une atmosphère de salle obscure.

Mélancolique et mélodieuse, expressive et nerveuse, la contrebasse jouée à l’archet, dans les notes hautes du manche où peu s’aventurent, s’est érigée en guide musical. Celui qui trace le chemin entre Séville et Minneapolis, relie la Syrie natale de François Rabbath à la France,
réduit la distance entre l’Amérique du Sud et l’Europe. Donne la note à suivre, l’émotion qui traversera le morceau qui, s’il n’est pas habité par la lumière, le portera néanmoins jusque là.

Visions musicales mises dans le coffre, transportées en soute ou imprimées dans l’esprit le temps de couvrir les distances qui les mèneront aux prochaines, c’est côte à côte que père et fils ont prolongé leur lien par delà des seules limites familiales et artistiques. Et leurs mains ne se sont jamais serrées aussi fort.
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Waxwork Records, in association with WaterTower Music, is proud to present BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Original Motion Picture Score by Danny Elfman!

Director Tim Burton once again teams up with composer Danny Elfman to create chaotic and fantastical music for the Ghost with the Most!
Though very few of his collaborations with Burton are sequels, Elfman jumped at the chance to revisit his work from the original Beetlejuice.

After 36 years, it was easy for him to get into the mindset he found in 1988. Speaking to Forbes, Elfman said that getting “the chance to jump

back into the same playground” with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice after all these years was “a real treat.”
Beetlejuice is back! Oscar-nominated, singular creative visionary Tim Burton and Oscar nominee and star Michael Keaton reunite for

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Burton’s award-winning Beetlejuice.
Waxwork Records is excited to present the debut vinyl release of BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Original Motion Picture Score by Danny Elfman as a

deluxe double LP featuring Pink and Violet Hand Poured colored vinyl, artwork by Ruiz Burgos courtesy of Bottleneck Gallery, heavyweight

reverse board packaging, and an 11"x11" art print insert.

Finally, I was able to devote some time to actually getting some collaborations completed for a new release of the Meeting Of The Minds series, with some brand new names arriving to Future Retro London!

Nebula is one of my favourite artists making new jungle atm, his versatility in music on the darker & lighter sides of the spectrum, the richness of his atmospherics and melodies & the way his drum edits flow throughout his tracks, I consider him a big inspiration in what I make. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to work with him on "Without Fear".

I've been enjoying some of what Stekker's been doing in his music, representing the ruffer lo-fi side of production and he's been putting out some great stuff on his own label Ruff 'n' Tuff as well as on a release he did for Coco Bryce's label Myor. I reached out to him about a collaboration and he had started something, which I was really into and that led to "The Quest".

I owe a lot to DJ Trace, as he was one of the first big names in jungle/d&b to really show me support for what I was doing. He gave me my debut vinyl release when he asked me to remix an old classic of his called "Final Chapta", which he released in 2011 on his label DSCI4. I also had music released on a label he started a few years after that called 117 (which I also helped design artwork for), so we go way back. He's been making more music than ever before recently and I was lucky enough to be able to get a collaboration in with him and "Patterns Of Thought" is the end result of that.

I've known Ark X & Duburban for a number of years, I would see them at a lot of events up north, as well as at events in London that they'd travel down for. They also were good friends with Kid Lib and would drive down with him whenever he was visiting/DJing in London & I was becoming familiar with their music through him, through Ark X's labels Supercharger & Hypercharger (where some of Ark X's music was being released under his previous alias of Black Orchid) & through Duburban's collaborations with Jahganaut. Big up to both of them for collaborating with me on "Come A Dance"

Black Truffle is thrilled to present the first ever solo Donso n’goni recording from octogenarian Swedish multi-instrumentalist Christer Bothén. Active in the Swedish jazz and improvisation scene since the 1970s, often heard on bass clarinet, Bothén travelled to Mali in 1971, eventually making his way to the Wassoulou region in the country’s south where he encountered the Donso n’goni, the sacred harp of the hunter caste of Wassoulou society. Though playing the instrument has traditionally been restricted to those who belong to the hunters’ brotherhood, Bothén found an enthusiastic teacher in Brouema Dobia, who, after many months of intensive one-on-one lessons, gave Bothén his blessing to play the instrument both traditionally and in his own style. Returning to Sweden, he would go on to pass on what he had learned to Don Cherry and play the Donso n’goni in a wide variety of inventive settings, including the driving Afro-jazz-fusion of his Trancedance (reissued as BT118).

The seven pieces of Christer Bothén Donso n’goni offer up a stunning showcase of Bothén’s work on this remarkable instrument, heard entirely unaccompanied, except for the final piece where he is joined on a second Donso n’goni by his student and collaborator, the virtuoso bassist Kansan/Torbjorn Zetterberg, and Marianne N’Lemvo Linden on the metal Karanjang scraper. Recorded in three sessions in Stockholm between 2019 and 2023 in richly detailed high fidelity, the instrument’s buzzing, sonorous bass strings make an immediate, overwhelming sonic impression. Hyper-focused on hypnotically repeating pentatonic patterns, the seven pieces are at once relentlessly single-minded and endlessly rich in subtle variations. The concentrated listening environment turns small details, such as the deployment of the instrument’s segesege rattle on two of the pieces, into major events. Six of the seven pieces are traditional, with Bothén contributing the remaining ‘La Baraka’, but the line between tradition and the individual talent is imaginary here: as Bothén explained in a recent interview with The Wire’s Clive Bell, ‘I play traditional and untraditional, and I play the music forward and backward’. While the traditional Wassoulou pieces provide the rhythmic and harmonic elements, Bothén’s individuality as a performer is alive in every moment, felt acutely in boundless variations of attack, improvisational flourishes, and unexpected accelerations and decelerations. Captured entirely live and bristling with spontaneity, this music is undeniably the product of almost half a decade of Bothén’s devotion to the Donso n’goni and its traditional music.

Accompanied by detailed new liner notes by Bothén and stunning colour photos from his time in Mali, Christer Bothén Donso n’goni is a stunning document of a remarkable instrument, played with an almost spiritual intensity by one of contemporary music’s great explorers.

On the cover of 8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living, the new album by Asher White, The Statue of Liberty is in pieces but not destroyed - in progress, being built, not yet complete. Her torch is on the ground, her head somewhere out of frame. Before she was a symbol, she was metal, and living, sweating people riveted her together. The spirit of de/construction characterizes 8 Tips, White's 16th LP overall and first since signing to Joyful Noise. Like White's previous albums, 8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living darts boldly among varied musical styles. Doom metal splits open into bossa nova; psychedelic rock and power pop flip into industrial techno. Each song emerges from its composite parts in the studio: White doesn't draft or demo before recording, but builds out her pieces sculpturally, sound by sound. "It's forever collage, forever assemblage," she says of her music. "To me, it has more to do with J Dilla, L.A. beat, and musique concrète than pop songwriting." The record's quick turns and vivid contrasts reflect White's cultural voraciousness. A writer, painter, and sculptor as well as a musician, she gathers materials constantly, always digging for new ideas in every possible form. The films of Claire Denis, the novels of Clarice Lispector, and the memoirs of Eve Babitz all funnel into White's reflection of 21st century disaster capitalism. 8 Tips is also White's first album to have been mixed outside her Providence studio; after recording it herself, she brought tracks to Seth Manchester (Lightning Bolt, Battles, The Body) who gave the album its brawny, unruly charge. "I was interested in making something that serves dually as a self-help book and a chronicle of self-destruction," says White. Overlaying autobiography onto character vignettes, 8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living wrenches open the idea of apocalypse - an abrupt disaster rained down on uncomplicated innocents - and peers inside at its bursting, devastated particulars. Apocalypse is slow and uneven. Nations falter as do individual people, clinging fast to their old, dilapidated self-preservation strategies. What saved you in the past might destroy you in the future. Flip it around, shake yourself loose, ruin the person you've known yourself to be, and you might get the chance to become something else. "There have been so many end times, many other apocalypses." White says. "People were writing self-help tips, and people were partying." We have survived catastrophe before. Out of the ruins, people made work - art, books, culture. "I was interested in making something that sounds like a self-help book, but it's actually about self-destruction," says White. "In full catastrophe living, you just have to do a bunch of whippets. This album is mostly about doing whippets. I'm not even kidding."

Stripping away excess layers, Dispossessed lives up to its title. The band went into Causa Sui's Jonas Munk's studio on the last day of February 2025. In an a priori session, the first note played together since 2023's Dens - the conclusion of a trilogy and a live album all in less than a year. Has something shifted during the silence? Added aggression? Faster tempo? Darker ambiance? The feeling of losing time? Or is it simply the listener who's world has tilted? In a fast paced world, Edena Gardens shows us how to resist and tune to our own inner chord. Edena Gardens deals in subtle shifts that can only be summoned from something played for the first time. From the sludgy blasts of opener Hiraeth to the droning ambience of 10-minute ender Aftenstjerne. As always, the band travels far yet stays in the same internal realm. The band's own Jakob Skott has made minor edits to cut a record from hours of free improvisation, and every dubbed ambience has been culled directly from the material recorded that day, bringing into play the band's gestalt in a way that shows their both outer and inner workings: Dispossessed. Edena Gardens is: Jakob Skott: Drums (Causa Sui) Nicklas Sorensen: Guitar (Papir) Martin Rude: Baritone guitar & Bass (London Odense Ensemble)

glo-worm produce chiming pop music of a nonbouncing variety that sounds pure, forlorn and unencumbered. Glo-Worm are at the heart of the `90s East Coast independent pop music scene that brought us Slumberland Records, Velocity Girl, Versus and chickfactor magazine. glimmer KLP054 brings all the various glo-worm 45s together under one roof. It's a real charmer, and now available for the first time as a long playing (LP) phonograph record. glo-worm formed in Washington D.C., summer 1993 and features the voice of Pam Berry ( cofounder of chickfactor magazine) accompanied by Dan Searing (drums, percussion) and Terry Banks (guitar). Previously, Pam had sung in Black Tambourine. Terry played in Tree Fort Angst and a stint in English underground combo St. Christopher. Dan had been in Whorl. During the course of glo-worm's two-and-a-halfish year lifespan, the band released three 7" EPs (issued by the Somersault, Slumberland and K labels) and had songs on a couple of compilations, all leading up to the glimmer [KLP054] album, which compiled the 7" EPs and added a cover of The Cure's `Friday I'm in Love' and was released by K in 1996.

Singer-songwriter and cult anti-folk troubadour Stanley Brinks returns with Happy New Year, a 10-song collection of lo-fi gems recorded in Berlin. Happy New Year is a warm and celebratory record. Over simple rhythms and minimalist arrangements, Brinks delivers lyrics that oscillate between surreal humour, earnest wisdom, and playful melancholy. Happy New Year features contributions from longtime collaborator Clemence Freschard, plus appearances from Jyoti Sekhawat, Monica Kremidi, Rachel Lipson, Irma Ignataviciute, and Elisa Aseva, weaving together voices from across Brinks' musical community. Their harmonies lend the songs a communal intimacy. Stanley Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York. By the late 90s he'd become a full time singer-songwriter - Andre' Herman Düne - as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne. Several albums and Peel sessions later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks. Under this moniker he has recorded considerably more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures. The vinyl is of silvery color.

Whitney K returns with 'Bubble', his first album for Fire Records and follow-up to 2022's acclaimed 'Hard To Be A God'. Whitney K continue his migrant mind games, summoning up a series of intriguing characters, littered with everyday foibles and fantasies. Along the way, he pens a journal of possibilities as he travels further into transient America, touching on everything from bar room chatter, rumour and distortion to misinformation, daydreams, misunderstanding and self-realisation; with anecdotes lifted from the paperback in his back pocket and his half-forgotten past. 'Bubble' is a 13-part cerebral mystery that unravels on songs that bring to mind the gruff sentimentality of the late Kris Kristoferson, Lennon's 'Jealous Guy', Eels at their most troubled and the American Gothic sketches of David Ackles; the perfect soundtrack for a Raymond Carver book club. Recorded in Montreal, it's self-produced by band members Josh Boguski and Michael Halls at their home studio. This stripped back release is Whitney K's most raw yet refined work to date-an honest, sonically paradoxical collection that finds fresh possibilities in the familiar shapes of rock, pop, and folk with the same unfiltered energy and poetic gravity we have come to expect from this modern-day troubadour whose descriptive storytelling is filled with sketchy characters and rudimentary comment. RIYL Bill Callahan, Silver Jews, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Cate LeBon, Kurt Vile, Wilco, MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee, Cass McCombs, Giant Sand...

On an evening in November 2020, Belgian artist Nicolas Rombouts (Dez Mona, Stef Kamil Carlens…) and American-then-Brussels-based artist Matt Watts (+2024) met at Studio Caporal in Antwerp, behind Central Station. Just a week after the suicide of friend and artist Loloman (aka Ward Zwart), and in the wake of the end of a marriage marred by pain, addiction, and depression. The two had spoken by phone and agreed to a recording session.

That evening, they shared their loss in conversation, on muted piano, contrabass, and electronics. Compositions were shared and improvised, and by the next day, their album Muted Songs For Piano was complete.

It is meant to be listened to in one full trip from beginning to end. You’ve traveled across the galaxy and are looking back through a telescope at this world and its lonesome mausoleum of memory. Sounds you can almost hear, and movements you can almost feel, though you know it has passed in the time its light has taken to reach you.

Muted Songs For Piano is an impressive and extremely intense listening experience, an album that engages in a heroic battle with the personal nocturnal demons of the two composers.

After recent sold-out vinyl and cassette releases garnering plays on BBC 6Music and NTS, among other Radio Play, 0282 are back with another choice double-sider.

Travis Street’s ‘Jackie Morris Said’ is an instrumental mid-tempo soul stomper, with Advance copies being very well received on contemporary Northern Soul Dancefloors throughout the UK. DJ feedback has likened it to all-time classic instrumental Mod & Soul numbers by the likes of Googie Renee and Wynder K Frog.

The flipside sees a remix by Barden Juniors, fresh from recent DJ gigs with the likes of Keb Darge, DJ Food, and Doug Shipton from Finders Keepers records. Their wonky angular deconstruction is in the vein of classic European Library Tunes from the late 60s / early 70s, and feedback on promo copies has seen it described as “a lost KPM out-take”, “the soundtrack to a lost public information film from 1973”, and “a time-travelling Kool Keith instrumental”.

It has already had radio play support from the likes of Markey Funk (Delights).

Seeking overlooked beauty and prizing reflection in a distracted world, Hammock creates cinematic music for the road less traveled. In stirring works of shimmering post-rock ambience that swell with hope and melancholic nostalgia, the Nashville-based duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson immerse listeners in living visions of moments long past, animating life's fond remembrances and scarring losses with gentle lens-flare harmonics, heart-surging neoclassical drama, and pensive silence. A direct challenge to the passive existence of modern life, where everything can be experienced but precious little is felt, Hammock demands, and richly rewards, patience and contemplation. One of Hammock's career defining works, the Mysterium, Universalis, and Silencia trilogy came to a close in 2019. The first chapter, Mysterium, was written following the death of Byrd's 20-year-old nephew and dealt with incomprehensible, shattering loss. Difficult understanding came on Universalis, and an altered reality understood through quiet reflection took hold on Silencia. Emerging from the silence, a period that brought with it the global pandemic of Covid-19 that has kept loved ones apart, conscripted months upon months of isolation, and roused directionless longing for escape, Hammock presents Elsewhere. Recorded by Byrd and Thompson at their homes, apart and with minimal equipment, Elsewhere serves as a gateway to another place, materializes feelings of separation and loss without closure, and calls listeners back to live their lives - not spend them longing to be something or somewhere else. - Wyatt Marshal

Though Toronto rockers Hot Garbage’s signature tinge of moody, heavy psychedelia remains present on Precious Dream, their forthcoming sophomore album careens at high speeds into a darker world of searing post-punk riffs, grappling with themes of dread, loss, the resilience of the human spirit and the highs and lows of solitude. From the onset, elegant yet brutalist sonic architectures provide the scenery for an escape route, while cryptic poetic spurts act as surreal signage. By the end of the journey, we are left with a strangely pleasant void, but also with an uncontrollable urge to backtrack into the outfit’s beautiful 36-minute musical trap. True to form, prolific producer Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck, No Joy, !!!, etc.) – with whom, Hot Garbage recorded their critically-acclaimed debut full-length, RIDE – does right by the band, masterfully harnessing the four-piece’s unique brand of rock & roll, setting in motion a parallel universe where phones are not what they seem, lobotomy has its merits, lower is actually better, and tunnels stretch the very fabric of spacetime. Fans of Sonic Youth, Frankie and the Witch Fingers or Joy Division should welcome a confused stroll down this romantic if dystopian opus, for a cathartic and tender sense of resolution awaits.

The members of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin couldn’t list a single music blog until their lo-fi MP3s and low-res JPEGs made them worldwide icons of Blogdom in 2005. Even Spin read an SSLYBY blog, downloaded their music and declared the Missouri band “could succeed The Shins as the band that will change your life."
 
Recorded in the attic and living room of guitarist Will Knauer's home, Broom, SSLYBY's debut record, is an expertly crafted indie pop gem.
 
Originally, SSLYBY had a simple ambition: to make the “Local Releases” bin at CD Warehouse. However, Broomturned into a classic rock ‘n’ roll record -- the kind where pop perfectionism meets studio experimentation and each track flows effortlessly. Seemingly innocuous pop songs are molded by happy accidents of fate -- sometimes involving unexplained swarming sounds and doubled drums tracks --into the warm, ethereal tracks that made the album into a sensation.
 
Originally self-released by the band to sell at shows, Broom was remastered and released via Polyvinyl in late 2006.

Celestial Echo (miche & Stu Clark) team up with Divine Disco’s Greg Belson to continue their 7-inch series spotlighting Detroit’s powerhouse gospel, soul and R&B label — HOB (House of Beauty).

This second 7-inch gives us two more in-demand killers:

Side A: Messiahs of Glory - “Can’t Find No Other Love"
Lp only before, this track makes its way to a 45 for the first time, super feel good soulful number. Uptempo with a glorious vocal, this one is built for the discerning dancefloor.

Side B: The Royal Travelers - “Jesus Hold My Hand”
raw, soulful and defining of the era. Rarer than rare and never before sold online, it’s a heavy dose of funky gospel oozing with breaky drums and soul.

Fully licensed and remastered, this 7-inch comes housed in a custom Celestial Echo / Divine Disco series sleeve with a faithful reproduction of the HOB label.

Founded in 1956 by Mrs. Carmen Murphy, HOB wasn't just a label — it was a beacon. From the basement of her beauty salon on Detroit’s West Side, she ran one of the most important Black-owned gospel imprints of the 20th century. At a time when both the music industry and the country were stacked against her, Mrs. Murphy built a sanctuary for soul — a Black woman-owned business and creative hub in volatile times.

Pressed and distributed by Prime Direct Distribution.
Don’t miss — buy or cry. Volume 2 continues the journey.

Opener “That’s Magic” features a magician talking us through a convoluted magic trick, to a mysterious synth theme that a celebrity conjurer might use to help the pyramids disappear. It’s probably one of the only pieces of music to draw influences from Paul Daniels. “Carpet Squares” is a hefty slab of squirming machine bass, acid squidges and clanking industrial drums, its samples extolling the virtues of fitting comfortable flooring, with a voiceover recorded on a Canadian golf course. “Vanja & Slavcho” tells the odd story of twins who have an extraordinary ability to a bustle of spiralling arpeggios and comedic sound effects, while “Tiktaalik” has a glam rock beat, guitar twangs, wild synth runs and dance music drum rolls that build to nowhere, plus processed dolphin noises and a vocal about evolution. Then there’s “Piccolo’s Travels”, a spellbinding mix of classical strings and... is that a malfunctioning Clanger?

“Album Titles” lists rejected names for the record to hilarious effect, with outlandish blips, accordion riffs and bubbling percussion setting the scene, “The 38th Parallel” is a wonky slab of electronica, while “Push It” has everything from rock guitar interjections to explosions and birdsong. If “Customer Services” imagines the bewildering experience of dealing with a sentient automated phone call, then the following “Nothing To Write Home About” is a waltz-time organ piece with a nostalgic, bittersweet air. “Ready?” lists practically every genre under the sun and gives you a burst of it, from drill to country & western, hardcore to Miami bass, and the final track, “The Void”, is an AutoTune-laced R&B track with a deep, emotional core.

That’s the genius of Wevie Stonder: their ability to make you laugh one minute, and the next transport you
to an atmospheric reverie.

In 2047, amidst the deafening yet oh-so-familiar soundscape of the Movement Festival in Detroit, we met again: I, pdqb, and Scape One, known as two of the most respected electronic music composers worldwide. The air pulsed not only with the latest beats but also with a barely perceptible energy only the two of us knew. We hadn't simply flown in; we'd arrived with our fantastic "Diskmind" time-travel machine, an incredible invention, capable of effortlessly catapulting us through the centuries.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it?" I shouted over the bass, eyebrows raised. "A machine that lets us travel through all of history, and there isn't a single song that honors it! Not one!"
Scape One nodded vigorously, his gaze sweeping over the stage lights. "That's absurd! How can such a revolutionary invention remain unsung? It's almost an insult to music history itself."
We looked at each other, a silent understanding in our gazes. The mission was clear: The "Diskmind" needed its anthems. And who, if not us, who used and loved it, should create them?

And so, we decided to become the musical chroniclers of the "Diskmind," ready to tell the story of our time machine across four different eras...

For Synaptic Cliffs, it's an extraordinary honor to present these three Scape One variations of the original song 'Diskmind' (first released on The Electrifying Dojo, 2025). Each masterpiece was recorded in different future decades of the 21st century (of ourse with the help of the Diskmind time travel machine) and reflects the corresponding trend in electronic music. A1: A timeless, pristine Electro composition from the year 2035. A2: An IDM marvel from late summer 2075, recorded in the Zero gravity of Space Station 775. B: An Experimental Electronica symphony recorded at pdqb's Studio 577 on Mars Outpost 47A. Only musical equipment that doesn't currently exist was used for this release

Zur Feier des 10-jährigen Jubiläums ist Chris Stapletons von der Kritik hochgelobtes Debütalbum Traveller jetzt erhältlich. Das 7-fach mit Platin ausgezeichnete Album wurde mit zahlreichen Preisen ausgezeichnet, darunter die Grammy Awards 2016 für das beste Country-Album und die beste Country-Solo-Performance für den Titeltrack. Jetzt auch zum ersten Mal als coloured Vinyl!

2025 Repress


Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel. It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and bassist Hartmut Enke.
Engineered by Conny Plank it was recorded in March 1971 and released in June 1971 on Ohr Records.

This 50Th Anniversary Album will be Released in Memoriam of all the Musical Contributors to this Release and on Manuel Göttsching´s MG.ART label. It´s the fourth and headlining edition in this series and was finalised, carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself in the late Autumn of 2022.

Much has been written about the record and band.

Having finished a first musical chapter with their Steeple Chase Bluesband and still at very young age of only 17 and 18 years old Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke met Klaus Schulze. Together they started to write and and compose what, to many, became one the holy grails of Psychedelic Rock and early Electronic Music -
the German variant which was later also named "Krautrock":

Ash Ra Tempel´s self-titled first album "Ash Ra Tempel".

"The trio of Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke decided to abandon conventional composition and song writing, in favour of free-form improvising and developing a new musical language. As such, they became notorious for jams that could exceed 30 minutes." Says Discogs. "Some of these recordings can be found on Manuel Göttsching´s "The Private Tapes" releases", which will be re-released on MG.ART as well, following this edition.

"Krautrocksampler" author Julian Cope mentioned it to be "… one of the greatest rock 'n' roll LPs ever made." (Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage | Unsung | Reviews | Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel". 15 March 2000.)

AllMusic called the album "both astonishingly prescient and just flat out good, a logical extension of the space-jam-freakout ethos into rarified realms."

Here we would like the Band to be heard, for what can easily be said as the first time in 50+ years, with the exception of some early Journalists for whom the young Manuel Göttsching wrote a statement of intent (the original text can be found inside this edition) as following:

"Our musical concept is based on a combination of blues rock and delicate collages of electronic sound. These two elements should remain inseparable. And in their complex unity, the different musical philosophies of each musician find a common sweet spot. Our music is a permanently impulsive experience left to develop as it will, starting from a common fixed point of departure. This is where the difficulty of the music begins: No standardized formulation of our music can and should be possible. Only the constant reaction within the band can determine the musical result. And this requires constant listening with full concentration on the part of the creators. The idea of a particular musician will be - if flexible enough - absorbed by the others, transposed to their own instrument, and reflected back into the music as an individual contribution. This reciprocity within the band is then transferred over to the audience. And this process means that their reaction is not only a contribution to the end result; it actually makes them jointly responsible for the creation of the final musical product.
…
On our album, the track "Amboss" represents the first layer. Conventional instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through electronic means. In the second track of the album - "Traummaschine" - the actual basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from any and every association, can finally begin - and the music can be absorbed and processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions.

Thank you for your attention."
(Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)


Hartmut Enke, Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze aka. Ash Ra Tempel travelled to Hamburg in March 1971 to record their debut, with assistance of another Icon, legendary engineer Conny Plank.
The rest is history.

2025 Repress

Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel. It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and bassist Hartmut Enke.
Engineered by Conny Plank it was recorded in March 1971 and released in June 1971 on Ohr Records.

This 50Th Anniversary Album will be Released in Memoriam of all the Musical Contributors to this Release and on Manuel Göttsching´s MG.ART label. It´s the fourth and headlining edition in this series and was finalised, carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself in the late Autumn of 2022.

Much has been written about the record and band.

Having finished a first musical chapter with their Steeple Chase Bluesband and still at very young age of only 17 and 18 years old Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke met Klaus Schulze. Together they started to write and and compose what, to many, became one the holy grails of Psychedelic Rock and early Electronic Music -
the German variant which was later also named "Krautrock":

Ash Ra Tempel´s self-titled first album "Ash Ra Tempel".

"The trio of Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke decided to abandon conventional composition and song writing, in favour of free-form improvising and developing a new musical language. As such, they became notorious for jams that could exceed 30 minutes." Says Discogs. "Some of these recordings can be found on Manuel Göttsching´s "The Private Tapes" releases", which will be re-released on MG.ART as well, following this edition.

"Krautrocksampler" author Julian Cope mentioned it to be "… one of the greatest rock 'n' roll LPs ever made." (Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage | Unsung | Reviews | Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel". 15 March 2000.)

AllMusic called the album "both astonishingly prescient and just flat out good, a logical extension of the space-jam-freakout ethos into rarified realms."

Here we would like the Band to be heard, for what can easily be said as the first time in 50+ years, with the exception of some early Journalists for whom the young Manuel Göttsching wrote a statement of intent (the original text can be found inside this edition) as following:

"Our musical concept is based on a combination of blues rock and delicate collages of electronic sound. These two elements should remain inseparable. And in their complex unity, the different musical philosophies of each musician find a common sweet spot. Our music is a permanently impulsive experience left to develop as it will, starting from a common fixed point of departure. This is where the difficulty of the music begins: No standardized formulation of our music can and should be possible. Only the constant reaction within the band can determine the musical result. And this requires constant listening with full concentration on the part of the creators. The idea of a particular musician will be - if flexible enough - absorbed by the others, transposed to their own instrument, and reflected back into the music as an individual contribution. This reciprocity within the band is then transferred over to the audience. And this process means that their reaction is not only a contribution to the end result; it actually makes them jointly responsible for the creation of the final musical product.
…
On our album, the track "Amboss" represents the first layer. Conventional instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through electronic means. In the second track of the album - "Traummaschine" - the actual basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from any and every association, can finally begin - and the music can be absorbed and processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions.

Thank you for your attention."
(Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)


Hartmut Enke, Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze aka. Ash Ra Tempel travelled to Hamburg in March 1971 to record their debut, with assistance of another Icon, legendary engineer Conny Plank.
The rest is history.

Originally conceived as a compilation of outtakes and live recordings from The Shadow Ring's 1995 stateside tour, Wax-Work Echoes takes its name from the first line of "Put the Music in Its Coffin," the title track of the group's breakthrough release. Lambkin abandons the bitsand- bobs approach, advancing the Shadow Ring concept with entirely original material that builds on the unit's self-mythologizing lyrics, celebrates the clicking of horse hooves, ponders on the sociability of rats and mice, and warns of the dangers of poultry. The first Shadow Ring album to officially include Tim Goss in the main lineup, Wax- Work Echoes reveals the group in its final and lasting form, awash in the outer bounds of atmospheric exploration, with Lambkin's familiar wry and morbid lyricism and the stripped-down angularity of amateurishly detuned guitars fully intact. While Klaus Canterbury and Tony Clark seem all but forgotten, and the shrugged off S. Fritz is listed on the liner notes as performing only "when required," Lambkin did solicit contributions from outside the inner circle. A bit of "Mambo Twist," lifted from a tape of unreleased Vitamin B12 material sent to Lambkin by Alasdair Willis, found its way into "V.E.R.M.I.N.," while an extended epistle contribution from Richard Youngs (and, technically, Brian Lavelle) would be employed in the second half of "Catching Sight/Of Passing Things." Released on CD in 1996 for Bruce Russell's newly minted Corpus Hermeticum, Wax-Work Echoes was recorded concurrently with intense rehearsal periods, in anticipation of the forthcoming "Rose Watson Tour," and was supported by a celebratory fanzine media blitz. The album seemingly absorbs the frenetic excess of the band's transatlantic travels; Wax-Work Echoes channels the trio's wilder instincts into an unresolved catharsis, not yet free of frustration or restlessness. Out of print for almost three decades and available here for the first time ever on long-playing disc, Wax-Work Echoes is a classic from the outer eddies of The Shadow Ring's sound, a must-have for any aficionado's collection: "A window slides, glass slips from frame / And canvas carcass breathes again." Throughout their legendary, decade-long run, the Shadow Ring were an enigmatic force on the international musical sub-underground. Before their disbandment in 2002, this shambolic rock outfit, formed by a group of rowdy teenagers in southeast England, left behind a mighty run of eight LPs, a handful of 7"s, and a spate of raucous live shows and cryptic zine appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, all which have bolstered their enduring word-of-mouth mystique. Beginning in 2023 with the first-ever vinyl pressing of the self-released pre-Shadow Ring tape The Cat & Bells Club (1992), Blank Forms Editions has been conducting a systematic retrospective of the storied group. Wax-Work Echoes and Hold Onto I.D. are the latest releases in a multiyear reissue effort that includes several LPs, a comprehensive CD box set, and a nearly five-hundred-page book.

Habibi Funk is more than happy to announce our 31st release which happens to be our 3rd various artists compilation. The album is dedicated to the cassette tape scene in Libya from the late 80s to early 2000s, from disco to reggae to pop. All songs previously unreleased outside of Libya and not available on any DSP platforms.

This compilation isn’t a sweeping history of Libyan music — it’s a personal journey into the sounds we fell in love with while digging through tapes, conversations, and stories across Libya and beyond. Rather than spotlighting the country’s most famous musical exports, the compilation brings forward a mix of overlooked gems and local classics of the cassette era: artists whose work thrived despite political limitations, and scarce international exposure. The music featured here blends reggae rhythms, synthy disco grooves, gritty pop, house, and funk, a vibrant collision of genres that reflects Libya’s unique sonic landscape from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Many of these recordings were recovered from the TK7 cassette factory in Sousse, Tunisia, a now-demolished site that once played a quiet but vital role in distributing and manufacturing Libyan music. Other tracks were digitised in a Cairo hotel room in 2021, where we transferred nearly 100 tapes over the course of three days, on-site using a high-grade cassette deck brought into Egypt with us. From that trove emerged artists like Ahmed Ben Ali, Cheb Bakr, and Najib Alhoush & The Free Music, who have already featured on our earlier releases. Their sounds sit alongside contributions from this release from the likes of Khaled Al Melody, Fathi Aldiyqz & Sons of Africa Band, City Lights Band, Libya Music Band, and Group Hewaya. During this era, Independent artists relied on makeshift home studios or travelled abroad to record in Tunisia and Egypt, gradually building their own infrastructures for creativity. By the 90s and early 2000s, as access to digital equipment increased, a few of the artists began setting up their own studios — a shift that gave rise to a more self-sufficient recording culture across the country. The resulting sounds are anything but homogeneous. They reflect Libya’s geographic and cultural crossroads: North African rhythms meet Arab melodies and deep African roots. Reggae, in particular, took on a local Libyan flavour — not just musically, through the slowed-down cadence of traditional shaabi beats, but socially, as a vehicle for expressing identity and pride. What ties all the artists on this comp together is a boundary- pushing approach to genre and style: recorded in small studios, exchanged by hand, and shaped by a cross-pollination of influences, from Benghazi to Tripoli and beyond. All tracks are licensed from their creators and in the case of the artists being deceased from their estates. All profits are being split 50:50 between us in the licensors and ownership remains with the creators, we only licensed the music.

A1 FORWARD
Was inspired by the revolution of the year of 1988 also referred to as the 2nd summer of love. Revolutions great and small are happening all around us all the time, and they take place in the minds of individuals.

A2 CHARANJIT DRIVE
Describes the revolution i 've got in mind, angelic bass-string harmonic notes flying left and right, Indian-vocals, sudden sped-up dancehall baselines and breaks. Imagine a hippie a homeboy and a funky dread, hugging and dancing and telling their mates how much they love each other in a nice green field while this plays.

B1 HONDA WANDERER
A man in a blue honda civic is traveling through a misty world at a high velocity. Seeking that which is just hiding behind the next bend. I made this after a beautiful misty, raining/sunshine rainbow ride on the autobahn. I had just picked up a cheap mutron bi-phase which was sitting beside me in the passenger seat. It was amazing.

B2 MISTY VALLEY
It's time to get a little bit serious, this one feels like the place where i made all of this music, the village of Ruigoord, covered in a thick winter fog. The remnants of a possible previous reincarnation of myself as an 80s new-beat producer are haunting this music.

all music & artwork by Mozes Meijer, mastering: Wouter Brandenburg, cut: Dubplates & Mastering a&r: Arne Cinema Royale Visser.

A muffled cry into the technological darkness, Contemporary Movement slid into the world right as the MP3 was seeping out of college dorms. A 39-minute drift into the void, drenched in Cold War-era reverb and then submerged in four track hiss for good measure. Duster constructed a Brutalist masterpiece on the outskirts of a suburban mall, as if to say, "We were here." This numbered 25th anniversary edition is pressed on 180G vinyl and comes with a lyric sheet and poster.

A muffled cry into the technological darkness, Contemporary Movement slid into the world right as the MP3 was seeping out of college dorms. A 39-minute drift into the void, drenched in Cold War-era reverb and then submerged in four track hiss for good measure. Duster constructed a Brutalist masterpiece on the outskirts of a suburban mall, as if to say, "We were here." This numbered 25th anniversary edition is pressed on 180G vinyl and comes with a lyric sheet and poster.

Zur Feier des 10-jährigen Jubiläums ist Chris Stapletons von der Kritik hochgelobtes Debütalbum Traveller
jetzt erhältlich. Das 7-fach mit Platin ausgezeichnete Album wurde mit zahlreichen Preisen ausgezeichnet,
darunter die Grammy Awards 2016 für das beste Country-Album und die beste Country-Solo-Performance
für den Titeltrack. Jetzt auch zum ersten Mal als coloured Vinyl!

Cleaning Out The Empty Administration Building ist Ross Farrars neuestes Werk aus rohem, gesprochenem Wort und experimentellem Sounddesign, hier präsentiert unter dem Namen R.J.F.. Der Frontmann der amerikanischen Bands Ceremony und SPICE begann dieses Soloprojekt zunächst als persönliche Herausforderung: Songs von Grund auf selbst zu schreiben, sich mit Instrumenten vertraut zu machen und dabei zugleich sein Unterbewusstsein freizulegen. Dabei ging es weniger um musikalische Virtuosität als um Verletzlichkeit - darum, etwas Ehrliches aus einem ungeschützten, unbearbeiteten, unpolierten Moment zu ziehen, kompromisslos amateurhaft und rein.Diese Sammlung zeigt Farrar im offenen, poetischen Dialog: mit Drumloops und gefundenen Klängen, durchbrochen von Gitarren, Bass und Tasteninstrumenten. Nach über zwanzig Jahren in der vertrauten wie chaotischen Welt von Band-Kollaborationen, legt Farrar all das ab - als Experiment. Das Ergebnis ist unverwechselbar und bewegend.Farrars Punk-Pathos ist in Spuren vorhanden, doch seine deutlichsten Einflüsse stammen von repetitiven Musikformen: Drone, No-Wave, Avant-Jazz und darüber hinaus. Seine nüchternen Texte erinnern an Lou Reed, Rowland S. Howard und andere große Exzentriker. Farrars Texte kreisen um Liebe, Sucht, Vaterschaft und das Leben in der heutigen Welt. ,Ich wollte Bilder schaffen, die die Menschen klar vor sich sehen können", sagt er. Farrar unterrichtete früher Schreiben und Literatur - und wendet hier ein einfaches Prinzip an, das er auch seinen Schülern mitgab: Nicht zu viel nachdenken. ,Ich habe mir einfach gesagt: Diese Songs sollen Spaß machen. Sie sollen nicht stressig sein. Zwei, drei Takes aufnehmen und dann gut ist. Nicht über jedes Geräusch den Kopf zerbrechen. Mach einfach das, was natürlich aus dir herauskommt - und wenn es sich gut anfühlt, dann nimm es."Aus hunderten freier Songs, die Farrar in den letzten Jahren mit geliehenem Equipment aufgenommen hat, kristallisierte sich dieses Album langsam heraus. ,Es kam einfach immer wieder."Der Ton von Cleaning scheint die Zeit zu verbiegen, versetzt die Hörer in eine Art Gang voller Songs, bei denen jede Tür in einen neuen Raum führt - Räume, die oft auf unheimliche Weise vertraut wirken. Der gurgelnde Bass des Openers ,Advance" taucht auch in anderen Stücken wieder auf, etwa im gespenstischen ,Ovidian", benannt nach Ovids Metamorphosen, in dem Farrar über das Wunder der Veränderung sinniert - begleitet von fernen Glockenklängen. Instrumentalstücke wie ,Gravity Hill" - ein Flattern aus Synth-Brummen und statischem Rauschen - oder ,Frogs", mit Saiteninstrumenten und perkussivem Topfschlagen, wirken wie tranceartige Zwischenspiele und verstärken die Wirkung der Texte drumherum.,Exile" blickt zurück auf Verluste, die sich nicht mehr reparieren lassen: ,So much of your heart caught in my exile", singt Farrar mit sanfter Resignation - über einer einsamen Klaviermelodie und schlingernden Gitarrenakkorden. Es ist das strukturierteste Stück der Sammlung und erinnert daran, dass Farrar ein Gespür für melodische Linien besitzt.Das Album endet mit ,Traveling Light From Afar", deutlich schneller als alle vorherigen Songs. Hier, über einem stoischen Motorik-Beat, spricht Farrar das zentrale Thema des Projekts direkt an:,I've been so young in my old age / Selfish & self-pitying / But that's just narcissism - man."Genau dieser Balanceakt - zwischen schonungsloser Selbstbefragung und der Klarheit, die mit dem Älterwerden kommt - schafft Raum für Entwicklung. Farrar leert das Gebäude - Zeile für Zeile.

REISSUE

Mit Sähkömies veröffentlichte Jimi Tenor 1994 sein legendäres Solo-Debüt auf Puu, einem Ableger des 1993 von Tommi Grönlund und Mika Vainio gegründeten finnischen Labels Sähkö Recordings. Aufgenommen in Tenors ehemaligem Zuhause in New York, bietet das Album eine bisher ungehörte Mischung aus Drum-Machine-getriebenen, elektronischen Klängen und Sun Ra-inspiriertem Jazz. Die Stücke wurden komplett von Tenor in seiner Wohnung geschrieben, aufgenommen und produziert und haben bis heute nichts von ihrem spontanen, rauen Charme verloren. Die Platte kombiniert Lo-Fi-Elektronik mit Jimi Tenors typisch rauchigem Saxophonspiel und bietet ein faszinierendes Hörerlebnis, das einen Künstler voller Neugierde und Experimentierfreude dokumentiert.

"In 1995 In The Red released the Cheater Slicks fourth full length album, Don’t Like You. The band, based in Boston at the time, travelled to New York to record at Jerry Teel’s Funhouse studio with Jon Spencer acting as producer. The result was a completely over the top noisefest that remains one of my favorite ITR releases to this day. Admittedly, Jon’s production was heavy-handed and extreme but, I thought it suited the band and this material well. "Prior to the recording the band demoed their material at a couple of different eight track studios in Boston. The demos showed that the band had enough material for an album that would be (in my opinion) their strongest to date. When the album was released it was very well received but there was a small number of people close to the band and myself who were critical of Jon’s production and preferred the straight forward recording of the demos. "With vinyl for Don’t Like You being out of print for decades I figured the album’s 30th anniversary was a good time for a re-release and to finally release the demos as well. I think both stand the test of time." – Larry Hardy

Cleaning Out The Empty Administration Building ist Ross Farrars neuestes Werk aus rohem, gesprochenem Wort und experimentellem Sounddesign, hier präsentiert unter dem Namen R.J.F.. Der Frontmann der amerikanischen Bands Ceremony und SPICE begann dieses Soloprojekt zunächst als persönliche Herausforderung: Songs von Grund auf selbst zu schreiben, sich mit Instrumenten vertraut zu machen und dabei zugleich sein Unterbewusstsein freizulegen. Dabei ging es weniger um musikalische Virtuosität als um Verletzlichkeit - darum, etwas Ehrliches aus einem ungeschützten, unbearbeiteten, unpolierten Moment zu ziehen, kompromisslos amateurhaft und rein.Diese Sammlung zeigt Farrar im offenen, poetischen Dialog: mit Drumloops und gefundenen Klängen, durchbrochen von Gitarren, Bass und Tasteninstrumenten. Nach über zwanzig Jahren in der vertrauten wie chaotischen Welt von Band-Kollaborationen, legt Farrar all das ab - als Experiment. Das Ergebnis ist unverwechselbar und bewegend.Farrars Punk-Pathos ist in Spuren vorhanden, doch seine deutlichsten Einflüsse stammen von repetitiven Musikformen: Drone, No-Wave, Avant-Jazz und darüber hinaus. Seine nüchternen Texte erinnern an Lou Reed, Rowland S. Howard und andere große Exzentriker. Farrars Texte kreisen um Liebe, Sucht, Vaterschaft und das Leben in der heutigen Welt. ,Ich wollte Bilder schaffen, die die Menschen klar vor sich sehen können", sagt er. Farrar unterrichtete früher Schreiben und Literatur - und wendet hier ein einfaches Prinzip an, das er auch seinen Schülern mitgab: Nicht zu viel nachdenken. ,Ich habe mir einfach gesagt: Diese Songs sollen Spaß machen. Sie sollen nicht stressig sein. Zwei, drei Takes aufnehmen und dann gut ist. Nicht über jedes Geräusch den Kopf zerbrechen. Mach einfach das, was natürlich aus dir herauskommt - und wenn es sich gut anfühlt, dann nimm es."Aus hunderten freier Songs, die Farrar in den letzten Jahren mit geliehenem Equipment aufgenommen hat, kristallisierte sich dieses Album langsam heraus. ,Es kam einfach immer wieder."Der Ton von Cleaning scheint die Zeit zu verbiegen, versetzt die Hörer in eine Art Gang voller Songs, bei denen jede Tür in einen neuen Raum führt - Räume, die oft auf unheimliche Weise vertraut wirken. Der gurgelnde Bass des Openers ,Advance" taucht auch in anderen Stücken wieder auf, etwa im gespenstischen ,Ovidian", benannt nach Ovids Metamorphosen, in dem Farrar über das Wunder der Veränderung sinniert - begleitet von fernen Glockenklängen. Instrumentalstücke wie ,Gravity Hill" - ein Flattern aus Synth-Brummen und statischem Rauschen - oder ,Frogs", mit Saiteninstrumenten und perkussivem Topfschlagen, wirken wie tranceartige Zwischenspiele und verstärken die Wirkung der Texte drumherum.,Exile" blickt zurück auf Verluste, die sich nicht mehr reparieren lassen: ,So much of your heart caught in my exile", singt Farrar mit sanfter Resignation - über einer einsamen Klaviermelodie und schlingernden Gitarrenakkorden. Es ist das strukturierteste Stück der Sammlung und erinnert daran, dass Farrar ein Gespür für melodische Linien besitzt.Das Album endet mit ,Traveling Light From Afar", deutlich schneller als alle vorherigen Songs. Hier, über einem stoischen Motorik-Beat, spricht Farrar das zentrale Thema des Projekts direkt an:,I've been so young in my old age / Selfish & self-pitying / But that's just narcissism - man."Genau dieser Balanceakt - zwischen schonungsloser Selbstbefragung und der Klarheit, die mit dem Älterwerden kommt - schafft Raum für Entwicklung. Farrar leert das Gebäude - Zeile für Zeile.

CATCHY, MESMERIZINGLY BEAUTIFUL, DREAMY CHAMBER POP WITH A FOLKY TWIST

Music can have a multitude of emotional impacts and can create inner worlds out of voices, sounds, and moods.
If you open heart and ear to the mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful soundscapes of AURI, you might find a beacon of light inside a sonic realm untouched by today’s often scary, grim realities; a dreamscape that can be profoundly uplifting.
On their third studio album, III - Candles & Beginnings’ the stars have aligned yet again. Propelled by the unique and celestial voice of Johanna Kurkela, the magical textures of Nightwish mastermind Tuomas Holopainen and the almost unlimited musical palette of Nigtwish multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley, Auri have presented a world to be unlocked with the senses, blending folk, progressive and symphonic elements, world music, pop and avantgarde.
Right after completing Nightwish’s 2024 monument Yesterwynde, the songwriting for the third chapter in Auri’s musical adventures started in 2023, with Troy writing in Yorkshire and Tuomas and Johanna working their creative magic in Kitee, Finland. By Autumn 2024, a 10-song demo was complete, setting the stage for what would become another breathtaking Auri journey. The band and their trusted engineer Tero “Teecee” Kinnunen took the mixing process to sunny Spain, letting the Andalucian vibes infuse the music whereas in March 2025 mastering was wrapped up by Tim Oliver at the legendary Real World Studios - a ground-breaking recording complex started by Peter Gabriel in 1989.
The album is a tapestry of emotions - each song a world of its own, touching on childhood memories, vivid life experiences, and even a nod to one of the group’s most beloved places on Earth - The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge, a historic spot nestled in the North York Moors and one of the most remote pubs you will ever find.
Visually, the cover artwork by Pete Voutilainen, layout and watercolors by Mikko Pankasalo plus calligraphy by Johanna Kurkela provide wonderful illustrations perfectly capturing Auri’s unique musical visions.
With guest musicians like Frank Van Essen (strings), Jonas Pap (cello), Juho Kanervo (basses), and the incredible drumming and percussion courtesy of Nightwish’s Kai Hahto, Auri III - Candles & Beginnings is as lush as it is atmospheric and provides astonishing dynamics.
Having been a studio endeavor in the past, Auri is finally going on tour with their first-ever live European trek kicking off in August 2025, followed by summer festivals in 2026, allowing you to hear, see and feel songs from their previous two albums, as well as brand new pieces from III - Candles & Beginnings.

Delving into the Great American Songbook of Howe Gelb, Sandworms is a new collection that rephrases and rephases the legacy of Giant Sand acrossgenerations. This release offers bold reinterpretations from Water From Your Eyes, Deradoorian, Jesca Hoop & John Parish, Lily Konigsberg, Holiday Ghosts, Ella Raphael, Monde UFO, The Golden Dregs, and Gently Tender. The ever-present Giant Sand and their one-man cerebral traveller, Howe Gelb, are anchored by a reputation for idiosyncratic storytelling. A "natural storyteller," Gelb's multifarious musical delivery adds an enduring sense of wonder as he extols the virtues of happenstance. This collection celebrates the esoteric and singular journey Giant Sand have taken, through alt-country, jazz, lo-fi experiments, and beyond, while their legacy is reimagined here by a new generation of artists paying tribute to their lasting influence. Brooklyn duo Water From Your Eyes, known for their stoner humour, fatalistic undercurrents, and art-pop flair, bring a delicate balance of punk riffing and dream-pop escapism to Warm Storm, first heard on Giant Sand's Ramp (1991). Whitney K takes on Happenstance (from 1994's Glum), unravelling its existential puzzles with a whispering baritone that recalls the hushed intensity of Leonard Cohen. Drifting further into orbit, Angel Deradoorian reinterprets Center Of The Universe, the title track from the band's 1992 album, transforming its desert-fried rock into a spaced-out Sun Ra-paced drama. Elsewhere, Yer Ropes, a jaw-dropping highlight from Glum, is taken on by The Golden Dregs, blurring sentimentality and relationship mismanagement into something truly strange and moving. A special collection for both long-time fans and the newly curious, Sandworms: The Songs of Howe Gelb and Giant Sand is released via Fire Records and includes liner notes from Dave Henderson (Mojo).